Jalan: Mysteries of the Haunted World

Ulari

The ulari are a race of humanoids created by the serpents during the Patron War. While the nature of their creation itself is riddled in mystery and rumor, they were primarily created to serve as loyal servants and liaisons between serpents and humans, acting as diplomats, leaders, warriors, and assassins. Designed to appeal to humans while reflecting the majesty of their creators, the ulari are notably tall, lithe, strong, and attractive, with nearly-human features and physiology. Where they differ from humanity is in their long, pointed, swept-back ears, slit pupils, slender, venomous fangs, and minute scales covering their skin. Their hair can grow long, thick, and straight, but only occurs on their scalps. Their hair and skin both have immense variety; a newborn ulari’s skin and hair have no set color, but instead changes like that of a chameleon or octopus until it resembles its surroundings. Later in life, both the hair and skin settles on a distinct pattern, and most ulari lose the ability to change colors. In most cases, this causes adult ulari to greatly resemble the humanoids around them, while in other cases they pick up patterns of non-humanoids or even inanimate objects; an ulari raised in a library might even have a pattern resembling the pages of a book. Some ulari have more serpent-like features, such as a forked tongue or scaled plates on their fronts, but this is rare and regarded as a sign of inbreeding.

Their purpose in the Patron War complete, the ulari race was rewarded with freedom and autonomy as the serpents withdrew. While many ulari chose to continue to serve the serpents, directly or indirectly, others have joined human or even khiton communities, or sought to form their own, with varying degrees of success. Naturally charismatic and sly, successful ulari can gain a great deal of power in existing communities, sometimes even becoming a ruling minority, not unlike their position in the War. Others are seeking a new place in the world and are experimenting with various ways of life. Because their race has significantly fewer females than males, many of these societies place a large emphasis on gender politics. One culture might be matriarchal, holding females in high regard while males are seen as relatively expendable, while another might be patriarchal, with the few females treated as breeding stock to be doled out by the leaders to their loyal subordinates. The mystery of their origin also holds much sway, with some claiming to be descended from true serpents, bred from favored humans, or made from scratch, perhaps with the intervention of spirits, or even that they were discovered and revived from a sleep from an ancient time. Their cultures almost always revolve around relationships, and many ulari see themselves as stewards of the other races, either seeking to help them along the path of greatness, or to use the “lesser” races as a tool to ascend themselves.

Draw Poison Ulari Racial PowerYou sink your fangs into a poisoned wound and suck the toxin out.EncounterMinor ActionMelee 1Target: You or one ally that has received a poison effect that a save can end.Effect: The target makes a saving throw against one poison effect.

Ulari Feats

VENOMEATERHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, Draw Poison powerBenefit: If the saving throw granted by your Draw Poison power is not successful, you regain the use of Draw Poison at the start of your next turn.

ENCHANTEDFANGSHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, Bewildering Venom powerBenefit: Bewildering Venom’s range becomes Burst 10 and you can use any ability score when making attacks with this power.

ENVENOMEDTONGUEHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, Bewildering Venom powerBenefit: Once per round, when a target fails a save against your Bewildering Venom power at the end of its turn, you can make a Bluff check against that target as a free action.

SERPENTBLESSEDHeroic TierPrerequisite: UlariBenefit: When you hit a creature with an effect that a save can end that has the charm or poison keyword, that creature takes a -1 penalty to their first saving throw against that effect. This penalty increases to -2 at 11th level and to -3 at 21st level.

INSPIRECOMRADERYHeroic TierPrerequisite: UlariBenefit: You and each ally within 5 squares gains a +1 bonus to defenses against attacks from allies. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and to +3 at 21st level.

SERPENT’S CUNNING
Heroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, bard, Virtue of Cunning class featureBenefit: When you slide an ally using your Virtue of Cunning, you can also slide an ally that was adjacent to that ally into the space the ally vacated, and can slide these allies into a space that requires squeezing.

WHISPERINGVENOMHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, psion, Bewildering Venom powerBenefit: Once per round, when you hit a target affected by your Bewildering Venom power with an attack with the psychic keyword, you can slide that target 1 square after applying all other effects. If you spent 3 or power points to augment that power, you can instead slide the target 2 squares.

VENOMDANCEHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, rogue, Bewildering Venom powerBenefit: The first time in an encounter a creature attacks you while under the effects of your Bewildering Venom power, you gain a +1 bonus to AC and Reflex against that attack. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and to +3 at 21st level.

DRAWENERGYHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, sorcerer, Draw Poison powerBenefit: Your Draw Poison power can grant a saving throw to ongoing damage of a damage type you have resistance or immunity to.

WRITHING SERPENT’S SHADOWHeroic TierPrerequisite: Ulari, warlock, Shadow Walk class feature
Benefit: On your turn, when you move an ally or enemy at least 3 squares away from where they started on your turn, you can trigger Shadow Walk as if you had moved 3 squares.